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FILM; Now a Triple Threat, With Her Tale of Love and Class

By LAURA WINTERS

Published: February 4, 2001

ONE night in a small French city, a gloomy, middle-aged, provincial businessman who has no interest in culture is dragged to the local theater by his brittle wife. The tycoon finds himself falling head-over-heels for the star of the production, a 40-year-old struggling actress who can't comprehend his sudden attentions, let alone return them.

So begins ''The Taste of Others'' (''Le Goût des Autres''), Agnès Jaoui's directorial debut, a film that explores with devastating accuracy the insularities and suspicions that can exist between people of different social spheres. At the same time, the film's sly lesson is that change and enlightenment can occur suddenly in even the most calcified person.

As the unlikely hero, Jean-Jacques Castella (Jean-Pierre Bacri), pursues the actress, Clara Devaux (Anne Alvaro), his actions set off a chain reaction of unexpected encounters among their friends and associates, including the businessman's idealistic chauffeur (Alain Chabat), his cynical bodyguard (Gérard Lanvin) and Clara's best friend, a free-spirited barmaid (played by Ms. Jaoui herself).

''The Taste of Others,'' which the 36-year-old Ms. Jaoui (pronounced Zhow-EE) wrote with Mr. Bacri, her longtime writing partner and companion, combines a Gallic love of repartee with a sharp critique of modern mores. ''We wanted to write about the fact that even though the days of aristocracy are long gone, social castes still remain,'' Ms. Jaoui said in French during a recent visit to New York. ''It's still difficult to enter into a milieu that is not your own, and you always run the risk of being either a snob or a laughingstock.''

The message seems to have struck a chord with audiences. ''The Taste of Others,'' which opens in New York on Friday, was the second most popular French film at the box office in France last year, after the action movie ''Taxi 2.'' It was shown at the New York Film Festival last fall and has been sold to 28 countries. It is also France's candidate for this year's foreign film Oscar.

Though she writes about social stratification, Ms. Jaoui herself has shown a talent for bridging different artistic worlds. Starting out as a theater actress, she has become half of France's best-known screenwriting team. Together she and Mr. Bacri have written and starred in several acclaimed recent comedies, including ''Un Air de Famille'' (''Family Resemblances''), which originated as a play, and ''On Connâit la Chanson'' (''Same Old Song''), an irreverent musical directed by Alain Resnais.

Now, with ''The Taste of Others,'' Ms. Jaoui has become a triple threat: actress, writer and director. ''I think Agnès and Jean-Pierre occupy a place which is unique in France today,'' said Cédric Klapisch, who directed the film version of ''Un Air de Famille.'' ''Not only do they cross between the worlds of theater and film, which is almost taboo in France, but they are also creating a middle ground between popular and intellectual cinema. Their work has a mixture of sophistication and accessibility that you don't see much in France nowadays.''

In person, Ms. Jaoui is modest and down-to-earth, with a heart-shaped face and a ready laugh. Underneath her warmth, however, is a watchfulness and a barbed nonconformity. ''What astonishes me most about her is her openness of spirit,'' Mr. Bacri said by telephone from Paris. ''It's this quality of always listening to other people and never letting herself fall into the trap of automatic thinking.''

Ms. Jaoui calls their works ''dramatic comedies'' -- funny, but with a dark undercurrent. ''We like to respond to the stupidities that we hear around us, and that are supposed to shape what we should think,'' she said. The idea of taste, which the pair explore in their new film, is a case in point. ''On the one hand, 'The Taste of Others' refers to the absurdity of thinking that you necessarily have better taste than someone else,'' Ms. Jaoui said. ''But in French, 'le goût des autres' can also mean your appreciation for other people and your belief in them.''

The couple's skewering of social prejudices tends to be gentle, however. ''Their look on the world is acid but also extremely tender,'' said the actor Pierre Arditi, who starred in three of the films they wrote.

Ms. Jaoui and Mr. Bacri use both archetypes and real people as inspirations for their characters. When asked whether any of her real-life models have recognized themselves in her films, she said, smiling: ''Usually people don't recognize themselves. But they always recognize their neighbors.''

Their writing process hasn't varied much in 13 years. Mr. Bacri said: ''We sit facing each other, each with our own notebook and pen, like something out of the 18th century.'' Ms. Jaoui added: ''For the first six months we discuss character and theme, constructing the story. Then we start to write the dialogue, and sometimes we act out scenes.''

Ms. Jaoui is one of several French screenwriters, including Danièle Thompson and Pascal Bonitzer, who have begun directing their own films. ''When Jean-Pierre and I were asked to do a film version of our play 'Cuisine et Dépendances,' they asked us if we wanted to direct it,'' she said. ''At the time, we said no, but afterwards I said to myself, 'One day I will want to control the whole process from beginning to end.' ''